


Destiny Lies (But Somehow Tells the Truth)

by bibliophileemily



Category: Naruto
Genre: F/M, Ficlet, Soulmate-Identifying Marks
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-10
Updated: 2017-12-10
Packaged: 2020-06-30 01:01:53
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 377
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19842265
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bibliophileemily/pseuds/bibliophileemily
Summary: If soulmates are determined, then destiny cannot be fought. Or can it?





	Destiny Lies (But Somehow Tells the Truth)

Neji didn’t know what the mark on his arm was for. His father had one, shaped like a teardrop, but he never explained what it was. His uncle doesn’t have one; maybe he used to once, but Neji doesn’t remember. He doesn’t have one now.

The mark on Neji’s arm looks like the sun. A long time ago, he thought it was because he was born in summer. It wasn’t until he started school and the other kids asked about it that he realized it was meant to lead him to his soulmate.

Neji paid it no attention; he’d decided a long time ago that he was never getting married.

* * *

Hinata remembers the marks on her parents’ arms. Her mother’s was a calligraphy brush; her father’s was of the moon. Two days after her mother died, the mark on her father’s arm disappeared, and she realized that soulmates don’t last forever.

She’s known almost her entire life who her mark represents. She keeps it hidden under long sleeves, not wanting the object of her affection to know. It’s so obvious, a swirl, just like that one Naruto wears on his back. She hopes one day, Naruto will realize that the flame he has on his arm is just like the insignia on her own jacket. 

* * *

Neji hates Hinata. He can barely remember a time when he didn’t hate her. His father is dead because of her. He is second class because of her. Everything bad that has ever happened in his life is all because of her.

When he sees they’re to fight in the Chuunin Exams, he can barely contain himself. Finally no one is there to stop him from crushing her. And he tries. He fights her with words, with blows, with pure hatred. 

When he pushes up her sleeve to reveal blocked chakra points, he notices the swirl on her arm and sneers. Of course, Hinata would love Naruto because of this; it’s destiny all over again.

It isn’t until months later, when he’s lying on a cot with an aching jaw, that he remembers Hinata’s name means “a sunny place,” and he wonders if the swirl he saw is really a helix.

And Neji wonders if he still believes in destiny after all.

**Author's Note:**

> Originally published on Tumblr (12/10/17) for NejiHina Week 2017: Day 1 - Soulmate AU.


End file.
